UPDATE: Less than an hour after this post was published, the S&P 500 finally crossed above its 2007 record level. Now the question is whether the index can stay above 1565.15 through the close to make the move official. Here’s the original post before the record was hit.

Traders are just toying with the market at this point.

The S&P 500 climbed as high as 1565.14 this morning before giving up the small gains and turning slightly negative. That intraday high was 0.01 point below matching the 2007 record closing high of 1565.15.

Yes, 0.01 point.

A weaker-than-expected reading on Chicago-area manufacturing activity, released at 9:45 a.m. Eastern Time, slightly weighed on the S&P 500 as it was making its record run.

“The burst of manufacturing recovery appears to have been short-lived judging by the cooling in the headline reading from the Chicago PMI,” says Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co.

Add a Comment

Thanks for reading MarketBeat. We would like to direct you to MoneyBeat, the Wall Street Journal’s brand new global blog. MoneyBeat unites MarketBeat, The Source, Overheard and all the Deal Journal blogs, bringing together all the market, M&A, IPO and hedge-fund news from those blogs into a 24-hour hub for finance news. Check it out and let us know what you think at moneyblog@wsj.com.

About MarketBeat

MarketBeat looks under the hood of Wall Street each day, finding market-moving news, analyzing trends and highlighting noteworthy commentary from the best blogs and research. MarketBeat is updated frequently throughout the day, helping investors stay on top of what’s happening in the markets. Lead writers Paul Vigna and Steven Russolillo spearhead the MarketBeat team, with contributions from other Journal reporters and editors. Have a comment? Write to paul.vigna@wsj.com or steven.russolillo@wsj.com.